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Son suspected of murdering mom over money, dumping body in Jersey

02/07/2019

A Tribeca man is suspected of slitting his mother’s throat in a fight over money and dumping her body in New Jersey — where she was found only because her other son reported her missing, police sources said Wednesday.

Jared Eng, 22, his lover Caitlyn O’Rourke, 21, and friend Jennifer Lopez, 18, were charged with concealment of a corpse as of late Wednesday, but the death is being probed as a homicide, officials said.

Eng, while being escorted by cops from a station house in lower Manhattan Wednesday evening, denied killing his mother.

“I loved her very much,” he said. “She gave me everything.”

Detectives believe Eng fatally slashed mom Paula Chin, 65, across the neck inside their Vestry Street apartment, then enlisted the help of his girlfriend and another gal pal to stuff the body in a plastic bag, drive to Morris Township, NJ, and ditch it near another family home until it was found Tuesday, sources said.

“It’s a tragedy,” said Robert Jones, a maintenance worker in a neighboring building and a family friend for over 30 years. “She [was] always talking about how good a son he was. I don’t know what would make him do this.”

Investigators believe Eng went off when his mom demanded he repay a sum of money he took from her, sources said.

Cops are still piecing together exactly when Chin was killed, but elder son Brandon Eng told investigators the last time he saw his mom alive was Jan. 31 in the Vestry Street apartment, sources said.

Surveillance video from across the street shows the three suspects hauling a large bag out of the building’s front door and towards the family’s black SUV, though it was also unclear when the scene was captured, according to sources.

Eng may have called in help for the macabre trip to Jersey because he doesn’t know how to drive, sources said.

Brandon Eng phoned the NYPD on Monday to report his mom missing, and by late Tuesday his brother and alleged accomplices were arrested in lower Manhattan.

“I saw [police] take [Chin’s] car yesterday,” said one resident in the family’s building, who declined to give her name.

“They’re nice people. I’ve known them forever,” said the neighbor, calling the death “devastating.”

“I’ve known Jared since he was a baby.”

Cops were quizzing the trio at the NYPD’s 1st Precinct station house late Wednesday ahead of their arraignments in Manhattan Criminal Court.

“I don’t understand it,” said Jones. “They got along well.”

Chin “spoke of the house in Morristown,” added Jones. “She said she would go there to escape.”